From A Distance

Some things - it seems - are not made for up close and personal. Some things are better enjoyed from a distance - like icicles for instance. The are hard, wet, cold... But in the matters of the heart, this cannot be said. We may try to keep a safe distance - we may try to take in the beauty without "touching" - but something is always missing. We were created to experience the depths of humanity that comes from opening our hearts to another. In our attempts to protect ourselves, we isolate and minimize - we starve to death emotionally.

It doesn't get much more up close and personal than child birth. Imagine - again if you will - a young woman and her man, seeking refuge in a barn so she can give birth to her baby. C'mon God! Couldn't you have done better than that? This is messy even on a good day! Couldn't you have come up with a plan that was a little cleaner... sanitary... sterile...?

But then, that wasn't God's intent - to be clean, sanitary, sterile... distant. God came. Up close and personal - with all the messiness that could be imagined - He came. He did not put distance between himself and humanity - He closed the gap. God came in as up close and personal of a way as was... inhumanly possible. While we were distancing ourselves - He came. While we were trying not to be personal - He came. While we were struggling in our mixed up and messy emotional prisons - He came. Not in all His glory, but in all our pathetic humanity.

Icicles are cold, hard, wet, and slippery. They are beautiful from a certain distance. But might I be missing out on a rich experience if I insist on keeping my distance? I have found that if I only observe those amazing icicles from a distance, I miss out on the richness of feeling the slick, icy, cone as it slowly melts between my fingers, and drips onto the ground. Yes it's still cold and wet - messy... But it's also amazing!

Just something to think about.

Guard Your Heart...

Warmth. Security. Peace. Intimacy. Reflection. Comfort. Memories. Longing. Hope. Sharing... Choice.

It takes a lot of work in this crazy, mixed up world to keep our sanity, and the closer we get to Christmas, the crazier it seems to get. Last minute shopping - traffic when and where there usually isn't any - short tempers - long lines - full shopping carts - empty wallets - lonely hearts for loved ones not present...

The heart, it seems, is the most vulnerable. How is it that one can feel so alone in a world with almost 7 Billion people in it! But it happens. Our hearts are chipped away at bit by bit; sometimes without our knowledge, and sometimes in full awareness, but without the will to stop it. And the result? Lonely, broken and empty hearts - longing for intimacy, peace, hope...

There is hope in this seemingly hopeless world. The key in finding it is in the wise old Proverb: "Above everything else in life, guard the affections of your heart; the emotional attachments you make determine the direction of your life." (Proverbs 4:23)

There is only one place we can go where it is truly safe to open our hearts, and that can be found in a manger where lies The King who became a pauper - leaving wealth and power beyond imagination, to rescue and win back, my broken and lonely heart.

Christmas. A theif has stolen our hearts, but The King of the Universe came to win it back. Isaiah 9:6

Just something to think about.

Who Do You Look Like...

My husband and I had a little girl living with us for awhile who was from Mexico - lovely olive complexion, eye's as dark as the deepest well, jet black hair... She didn't look a thing like either one of us, yet a dear old lady patted this child on the head one day and said, "You look just like your Daddy!" The woman had no idea that this little girl was not our offspring!

I've known people whose dogs actually looked like them! How does THAT happen? And have you ever noticed how even some husbands and wives seem to take on a likeness of the other after years and years of living together... What is it about association that seems to cause us to take on the characteristics of another person? It really is amazing.

So, at the end of the day, who are you going to "look" like?

1John 3:1 and 2

Just something to think about.

Getting there... safely

We were given instructions that were to bring us up to the street from the subway just a few yards from our destination... unless we arrived after 12:30... am - a detail we didn't fully understand the importance of until later - much later - after the 12:30 am deadline later...

Instead of walking a few short yards in the middle of the night to the warmth and safety of our destination, we found ourselves in an unsavory neighborhood, several blocks from "safety," at one in the morning. A large group of men gathered on the corner we needed to round... we were dragging suit cases - camera bags... we looked like tourists. We WERE tourists, and no match for the "night life" of this neighborhood! I enjoy a little adventure in life, but I do want to know that I'm going to arrive safely at my destination.

I was reminded that early New York morning of how important it is to feel safe. As we came up out of the subway we got on the phone and called our friend who then talked us through the turns we needed to make - the landmarks to look for - and he told us to keep walking - he would meet us. Whew! It felt so good to just have him on the phone! And then when he said he'd meet us... well, the sense of peace and relief was amazing!

Psalms 91 offers just that kind of amazing peace and relief for life in a very scary world. If I live my life in the "secret place of the Most High," I can go anywhere He leads me, and feel safe. I know where I came from, and I know where I'm going, and I can trust that I will get there... safely.

Just something to think about.

By the way, as we approache the group of men, a van - sent out by Mayor Rudy Giuliani - pulled up, loaded them all in, and drove away... A little serendipity.

Now, back to Psalms 91...

Standing Out

Most of life can just end up a blur - melting one day into the next - one person looks like the next - the details of one activity can get mixed up with yet another activity... but sometime something happens that stands out - that makes me stand up and take notice.

The death of Charles did that for me today. I don't know where Charles came from. I don't know if he had family out there somewhere. I don't know how much education he had or if he was ever loved by someone. I don't know anything except that he slept against the slump block wall next to the kitchen door at church, and he told me once that I wasn't bothering him, "You help me and I appreciate that," he said. I know he mattered. What I don't know is, if he knew he mattered. That question just may change the way I interact with the other Charles' from now on....

Barriers To Faith

Ego. Broken promises. Unanswered prayers. Skepticism. Pride. Experience. Fear... Add your own word and then ask yourself: Is it worth it? Is a life without faith really any life at all?

Not just something to think about.

Pondering, listening, learning...

A Child Shall Lead Them

I learned a valuable lesson from a young friend today: Let things go. Don't spend precious time and energy on being angry over something you can't do a darn thing about! Those are my words, but the idea was the same - and this young man had just had his bike stolen! A wise ancient told his followers to "Turn the other cheek" - "Forgive 70 x 70" - "Love your neighbor as yourself..." I don't know about you, but sometimes - most of the time - that kind of thoughtful response takes more guts than I have... on my own. Good thing I'm not on my own!

PS the bike was returned. Know this: I don't think that was just a random act of contrition.

More than just something to think about.

Church

Meaningless talks - no purpose - unfamiliar and strange music - asking for money - hypocrites - a building...

What do you think of when you hear the word, "Church?" I know for me, thoughts can go in many different direction.

Someone recently introduced me to the idea of "church" being more than just the building itself or even the people. I found it refreshing, and it just might even be "Biblical."

Church might well be defined as people in service - any time - any place - any day. I like that. If more of us lived "church" in this way, just maybe, more people might want to "join."

Just something to consider.

Pondering, reflecting, learning...

There Is A Line

I usually know when I've crossed a line, but the challenge comes in knowing when I've approached that line and I am at a crossroads. Some challenge the line - want to move the boundaries - push the line back, while others' are eager to draw the line in the sand - but most often it seems for the other person.

Do you have a moral compass? Do you know where you are going to draw the line - put on the breaks and say, "This far and no farther?" If you don't decide in advance, circumstances will decide for you. As the phrase in the Susan Ashton song says, "There is a line, I will not cross."

Just something to think about.

Pondering, reflecting, learning.

Midnight Musings

Tonight... I would just like to sleep - uninterrupted. But what about tomorrow? What will I do with tomorrow?

Pondering... Listening... Revealing.

A Few Coins...

Years ago while wondering the streets of San Francisco, one of the many homeless asked me for money. I had been burned numerous times and was a little gun shy. "What should I do? Should I just ignore him? I don't have any money. Maybe I should offer the food I have in my pack - just give him what I have...?" The homeless man tossed the food back at me as I walked away. Ungrateful...

Two thousand years ago a blind beggar was sitting by a city gate when two men walked by. They didn't have what the man was asking for, but they offered him what they had. Never in a million years could that man have imagined that his day would turn out the way it did! He asked for a few coins, and the next thing he knew, he was actually able to see!

Two thousand years ago a man offered to restore not just "sight," but fantastic, jump out of bed in the morning, thrilled to be alive life! Wow! I choose life! But do I always?

Some have chosen to throw that crazy, fantastic life back in his face because it didn't fit their paradigm. Wow! What if that Man who offered us life two thousand years ago decided NOT to give what he had because some would throw it back!

Pondering that crazy, abundant life...

Can I Know God?

"The acquisition of knowledge is always of use to the intellect, because it may thus drive out useless things and retain the good. For nothing can be loved or hated unless it is first known." Leonardo da Vinci

Is it possible to "know" the originator of the universe, or is that like an ant contemplating physics?

And God said, "let us make humankind in our own image... male and female."

Did you ever consider that a deeper understanding of one's own self, might offer a glimps into the heart, soul and mind of the Creator? Have you ever considered that a more intimate knowledge of the God of the universe might give deeper understandings of one's own self?

Just something to consider.

Balance

A tray of wine glasses... The roof of the house... A toothpick on a grain of salt... A line on the sidewalk... A child in each arm... Outward conformity and soulful spirituality... Questioning and compliance... Life... Balance...

Is balance a reality or an illussion?

Things that go bump in the night

One ancient recorded that there would come a time in which there would be no more night. Children have traditionally feared the night. Unsavory characters most often take advantage of the darkness when it falls, to practice things they would never do in the light of day.

Lovers eagerly anticipate the setting of the sun to embrace under the white orb of the night sky. Evening campfires have long been places to tell and re tell the stories of our lives, re affirming our place in the universe; and after day well spent, the night comes and we long to lay our weary heads down and dream the sweet dreams of contentment.

Where do your imaginations go after the sun as melted into his evenings ritual? Are you at peace, or do your personal demons descend on you? What do you bump into in your night time musings?

Pondering.